A couple of short reviews for sequels to books I have previously reviewed. That is the brief here. No waffling on about anything, just do the reviews…

Have I ever mentioned I hate sequels. As a writer that is, not as a reader. As a reader I love them, usually, depending on the book. But I hate writing them. The reason being that if you write something that for some god-only-knows reason people love and value, writing a sequel can only go one of two ways.

It can be as good or better, taking the story and the characters forward in new and interesting ways your readers don’t expect. Or its a desperate attempt to recapture the essence of the original that made people love it in the first place that fails on all levels to do so.

The more the original is loved, the hard it is to write a good sequel and the longer a series is the more you are faced with the law of diminishing returns. the first book in a series will always outsell the second, while will out sell the third and so on. It doesn’t matter how good the third book is, as the writer you see less sales and logic goes out of the window. It has nothing to do with the quality of the book, the writing the plot or anything. it is all down to diminishing returned.

Ten people buy a book, nine people love it, one sort of likes it but not enough to by the sequel. Nine people buy the sequel, either love it, once doesn’t feel that for them it works as well as the original did… So eight people buy the third.. and so on. But writers don’t think like that, writers see a book that doesn’t sell as well as they hoped and feel they are failed. Because writers are, well, the kind of people who hang out with imaginary friends and make there imaginary friends suffer.

Writers are weird. Some of them however do write really good sequels.

Now what was I saying, oh yes, no waffling on just do the reviews….

Barbara Avon is a Canadian author who writes across quite a few genres, some of which aren’t really my wheel house, some of which are. We follow each other on twitter, I am not sure who followed who first or why, but I do recall seeing a tweet from her about a shitty review someone had given her without bothering to read the book in question. Because such things irritate me I decided to try and redress the balance by buying one of her books and if I liked it leaving a review to say so. If not, well at least a crappy review from an arsehole that upset her led to a sale which redressed the balance of karma in the world a little.

The book I chose was Owl Eyes Motel as the premise appealed to me. Horror fiction based in a motel, and every room has its own story, so every chapter is another room number and a short story entwined around a broader narrative… Anyone who has read Passing place will have an incline why this appealed to me. When it arrived, I was just hoping it would prove to be a nice read in order to leave a nice review. As it happened I read it in a day, adored it and was blown away by Barbara’s wonderful writing style and prose. Giving her a good review was no chore.. You can read that review here XXXXXX, my one criticism was that there was so much scope in the premise that rather than a novella it should have been a novel. I wanted more… Which leads me to her latest novella.

Owl Eyes Motel: Lovers Retreat by Barbara Avon

This is a sequel that stands on its own two feet and could be read on its own. The premise is the same, every chapter is a room, ever room has its own story. While there is an obvious theme of doomed love to this novella the main premise of a strange kind of purgatory in the from of a motel is as delightful and intriguing as ever.

If you do read this having never read the original novella I suspect the first thing you will do after you finish is get a copy of the original.

If you have read the original, what is held within is the same brilliant story telling, visceral physiological horror, nasty little twists and unexpected turns. Writing with the same flare and a love of the medium that runs through Owl Eyes Motel. Its a treat for any horror fan or indeed just fans of good writing and beautiful prose.

Added to this there is further delve into the background of the proprietor, which adds more depth to what is already a strong well conceived and written premise

And remember, there is always room for the dead at the Owl Eyes Motel. So hopefully this is not the last visit to owl eyes as I still want top read more.

Lillian Brooks is a writer from the north east of England who has been known to dance around fires (in sturdy boots to avoid the hedgehog issue) at various times of the year. She also has a thing about making cocktails. I approve of cocktails, though I tend to avoid the hedgehog issue by sitting calmly by the fire, in sturdy boots and watching the flames. None of this is strictly relevant of course, but I need to write something by way of introduction and as this is the fifth book and forth in this series of Lilian’s I have reviewed making up some waffling by way of introduction is required.

She also collects wooden mice which she is determined to figure out a way of animating with magic so they can act like the organ mice in Bagpus and make things for her and her own Bagpus which is either her cat or husband John.

Some of the above may be a lie, indeed Lilian herself may be just the pen name of another author , and probably is but if people want to find small wooden mice and send them to her it will amuse me if no one else, so do that. But anyway on to the book review…

Burning Magic by Lilian Brooks

This is the forth book in the series and as its title suggests rounds out the four major arcane, or the four corners which are a central theme running through the series. Unusually, fire came last after water, earth and air, but it was worth the wait. Also while this is not the last in the series it does feel like it is rounding out the first four books as a single sequence. Loose ends are tied, stories lines resolved, the whole book moves towards a resolution which the characters need.

This is not to say it is smooth sailing for Alyssa Bright and her friends. The road is long, rough and challenging. Though by the old gods Alyssa doesn’t make it easy on her self…

This is however a third sequel that is as strong in the last chapter as the first chapter of the original. The pace is beautifully judged, the writing carefully crafted and the characters just fun to spend time with. I loved it as I did the first novel, despite it not being entirely in my normal wheel house. Sometimes you just need a book that takes you along for the ride.

If you love all things that you could describe as urban fantasy, or urban pagan this is a series you’ll enjoy, so I really can’t recommend it enough.

Now about those wooden mice…